Oral history interview with Richard G. Smith [videorecording], 2004.

ArchivalResource

Smith, Richard G., 1930-. Oral history interview with Richard G. Smith [videorecording], 2004.

Oral history interview with Richard G. Smith [videorecording], 2004.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/775670278

Richard G. Smith, a Superior, Wisconsin resident, discusses his Korean War experiences in the 72nd Tank Battalion. Smith mentions being drafted while sailing on the Great Lakes, basic training at Fort Riley (Kansas), and landing at Incheon with the 2nd Division in June of 1952. Assigned to Able Company, 72nd Tank Battalion, he describes duty as a cannon loader and, later, as a temporary sergeant and gunner. Sent by train to defend T-Bone Hill, he talks about getting the tank stuck in mud. Smith describes supporting a Republic of Korea (ROK) division, probing no-man' land, and scouting coordinates to hit from the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) whenever the peace talks would break off. He recalls being told to make the ammunition count after supplies were interrupted. Smith states the infantrymen didn't like the tank companies because retaliatory enemy fire would overshoot the tanks and hit the infantry units behind them. He touches on taking turns manning tanks stationed on the MLR, bivouacking several miles away, sharing eggs with the South Korean soldiers, and, on guard duty, being unable to visually distinguish between South and North Koreans. Smith relates a close call when his tank was knocked out right after his crew had been relieved. He describes the "Easy Eights," the reconditioned, World War II-era Sherman tanks they used. Smith comments on padding the outside of the tanks with logs and sandbags and once fixing the tank track on the battlefield. He recalls an incident of a South Korean soldier getting caught and beaten for stealing. Smith describes the camp, using the periscope to sight the tank guns, and using tank batteries to light their bunker. He characterizes a couple of his tank commanders. Smith relates having ice cream in Needles (California) upon his homecoming and mentions getting leave to visit his wife and daughter, who had been born while he was in Korea. Assigned to duty as a barracks sergeant at Fort Carson (Colorado), he states it was difficult to enforce military discipline on the "short timers." Reassigned to Camp Atterbury (Indiana) as a cadre, he talks about training recruits to arm and disarm mines and demonstrating urban combat before being discharged three months early. He reflects on the strangeness of having to periodically stop fighting during the peace talks, lacking a real end to the war, losing men while taking hills only to give them up again, and having the tanks used like artillery. Smith states that because the crews were constantly changing, he never served with anyone for long and hasn't attended reunions.

Videorecording : 2 videocassettes (ca. 60 min.) ; sd., col. ; 1/2 in.Transcript : 19 p.Military papers : 0.1 linear ft. (1 folder)

Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center